Shell Canada carbon capture likely last to get Alberta subsidies

CALGARY, Alberta Nov 5 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell's
launch on Friday of Canada's first oil sands project to
capture and bury carbon emissions - assisted by generous public
subsidies - will likely be the last to get such funding, the
Alberta government said this week.

The left-leaning New Democratic government of the
energy-rich Western Canadian province, home to the country's
controversial oil sands, said it no longer plans to fund future
efforts using the technology.

"We intend to evaluate all options for reducing greenhouse
gases - like transit, energy efficiency ... with an eye to the
greatest return on investment," Energy Minister Marg
McCuaig-Boyd said in an email on Tuesday.

The New Democrats had pledged to improve the province's
climate change record after winning an election in May that
ended 44 years of Conservative rule.

Shell Canada said it completed the C$1.3 billion ($987.92
million) Quest project at its Scotford upgrader under budget and
can now capture about a third of its carbon dioxide emissions,
comparable to the annual emissions from 250,000 cars.

The project, located northeast of the provincial capital of
Edmonton, was built in partnership with Chevron Corp.

The upgrader, which converts bitumen from two oil sands
mines into synthetic crude oil, will now pipe the CO2 through a
65-km (40-mile) route before burying it in saline aquifers more
than 2 km underground.